Volvagia!
by Loopy Lupa
Summary: In the early days of Hyrule, an evil beast threatened to destroy everything. An evil beast who lived atop Death Moutain, a dragon by the name of Volvagia!
1. Prologue

Here we go, my next Legend of Zelda fanfic. Inspiration for _Volvagia!_ came a few weeks ago when I was replaying Ocarina of Time for the umpteenth time. When you stop the Goron Link rolling with the bomb, he tells you of an ancient Goron hero that was the first to save the Gorons from Volvagia. I searched webpage after Zelda webpage and was unable to find anything on this Goron hero. So, I decided to make up my own story for him. It takes place long enough before Ocarina of Time to be considered only a legend during that game (which means that it's very, very early in Hyrule history). Oh, I promise this story will be A LOT better than my other Zelda one.   
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda; it belongs to Nintendo and the great Shigeru Miyamoto. I kind of own the plot, even though it is a part of revealed Hyrule history. If anyone has done a story about this before, I would like to know. I hate to make it seem like I stole the idea from someone else, and I'm sure I'm not the first to wonder about Volvagia's beginnings.   
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_Volvagia!  
A Legend of Zelda Fanfic by CassieLH_  
  
**Prologue**

  
  
  
  
Today in Hyrule, the following story is but a legend, a myth. A scary story told around campfires and in taverns late at night. Simplified and less terrifying versions are told to naughty children who refuse to go to sleep followed by the warning that "Volvagia likes to eat little boys and girls who don't follow Mommy's instructions".   
  
  
No one believes that it's real. In fact, since the death of the first great hero known as Link, there has been no one who even believed that a single dragon had ever even lived in Death Mountain, or anywhere in Hyrule.   
  
  
How wrong those people are.   
  
  
If only they knew how close all the races of Hyrule had been to extinction because of this beast. This one, single creature had great plans to destroy everything that had been built up in the few generations since the lives of the great goddesses themselves. Had fate served his side, nothing but dragons and minions of evil would live in the modern day world. It is very lucky that the hands of the goddesses were praising the side that had to try to defend themselves.   
  
  
Yes, very lucky. The true story of what happened can be told by no one. Too much of it has been lost throughout the years. All one can do to tell an accurate version is listen to as many different people tell it and rule out what obviously didn't happen while fitting together the plausible content. Who knows, maybe the right way to go about it is completely opposite.   
  
  
What follows is what one historian, Queen Zelda XI of Hyrule, believes the tale to be. She has labeled it as _The Most Accurate Version of the Story of Kotamaton_, though she doesn't believe a single event happened the way she portrays it. Everyone who reads it, however, give a simpler title: _The Epic Tale of Volvagia!_ What the princess has written is contained in the following prologue and chapters:   
  
  
  
  


_Women shrieking, men running,  
Children not laughing they are fleeing;  
This curse do I put upon thee,  
With a dragon upon your country.  
It is something hard to get ridda,  
This curse Volvagia!  
_

  
  
  
Not a single soul in the small town of Limapo took the wizard seriously. Indeed, there were very few who believed the man to even be a wizard at all. He was lovingly referred by the Hylian residents as the "Poor Rhymer with a Beard Missing a Mind".   
  
  
He had always been known as a theif and a liar, even as a child. Born a hunchback with odd, magical powers, there was little to wonder about to find why he was always alone and disliked. His mother died giving birth to him and his father refused to even look at such an ugly little beast, so he was tossed out on the streets to fend for himself. Surely, he would have died during his first week if the villagers did not take pity on such on ill-born child.   
  
  
The pity only lasted until he learned to walk and talk. Limping through the streets on uneven legs with a hideous swelling on his back that forced his head forward, he was seen as a scary and unpleasant boy; a boy whom mothers took extra care to keep their children away from.   
  
  
Because he was alone and shunned by every Hylian in the village, the wizard grew up to be a very unpleasant man. He had a sarcastic tongue and never said anything that wasn't an insult or a declaration of doom. At least twice a week he'd sit in front of the town central building and shout that all of Hyrule would be cursed by the time of his death. Of course he wasn't believed; what could a hunchbacked man who could barely walk do against them?   
  
  
The addition of his poem was answered with laughs. "That old bearded man has finally gone out of his mind!" the people would say. Those looking to be jesters for money would tell the mayor of the city and his family the poem over and over in a stupid voice while hobbling about the stage outside the central building like a hunchback. The wizard would glare while they performed and he vowed that his day of revenge was getting closer.   
  
  
And so it was. Not too long later, he gave the town a better reason to remember the poorly-written poem. The community was beginning their second summer as a town when the crazy old man came across an egg. The egg, as large as a Goron's head, glowed red day and night. It throbbed the colors of fire, lava and destruction all during the ten days he carried it with him as he patrolled the streets, always reciting his poem. All thought he had now gone yet another step into insanity, but the words were lodged in all of their minds.   
  
  
On the tenth nigh since he had chanced across the egg, the wizard scaled Death Mountain. For such an old, worn man, he was in surprisingly good shape. By the last hour of the night, he stood in the center of the crater, directly in front of one of the lava pits. Slowly, he bent forward and placed an item carefully inside.   
  
  
Midnight struck. The moon, at its peak in the sky, cast its beam directly in the center of the pit, where the throbbing egg absorbed all of the bright light. The wizard whispered a spell in the Tongue of Magic, a spell that made the egg swell and bulge. It grew larger and larger until cracks began to form in its thick, blood-colored sides.   
  
  
The egg began to rise out of the pit, rolling over and over as it climbed into the air. The sides were being pushed in and out by the strong arms of the dragon inside. In an instant, with a loud cracked that echoed throughout the crater and was said to be heard all throughout Hyrule, the egg fell away into two perfect halves. In its wake was a thin, red creature with only two arms separating it from the snake class, born of the fires of the Dark World. Gliding through the volcano cater with natural grace on its two, wet baby wings, the dragon dipped down into the fires of its birth.   
  
  
After taking a gulp of lava and getting a feel for its new home, the monster poked its head back up to hear the words of its creator. The wings had been burned off, now that he was dry he wouldn't need them to fly, and the flaming red skin on his head had been burned off to show the bone. Mean horns grew out of his skull, and red streaks of fiery hair sprouted from between them.   
  
  
"Volvagia!" the wizard shouted, beckoning the dragon to him with old, wrinkled hands. His eyes glittered with a joy that had never been present before in his miserable life. "Volvagia!"   
  
  
The child dragon was a playful thing. While learning its name, it was beginning to play with one of its new powers: fire breath. Before he realized what was going on, the wizard found his entire body smothered in flames. It took mere minutes for him to become no more than a pile of ash. All the while before his death, he was shouting the same word: "Volvagia!"   
  
  
Volvagia roared and sent a stream of flame into the night sky. He would never throughout his life forget that wandering old wizard that had created him as a curse. Yes, the dragon would be a curse. He would conquer the people that caused him to be born.   
  
  
He was _Volvagia!_


	2. Dodongo Trails

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! This took me longer to type up than I thought. I really do apologize for how long I took uploading this chapter, I've had it written for quite some time, but life's been hard. Homework and more homework.... Long hours writing a book that I can get published if I ever happen to finish it.... More homework.... Ocarina of Time Master Quest mixed with A Link to the Past on my Gameboy.... More homework.... Anyway, it's finally here: CHAPTER ONE!

Disclaimer: I'll say it again, The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto (^_^). I own a lot of the cast though, and the plot belongs to me and only to me.

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Chapter One: Dodongo Trails

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"More Gorons have gone missing, haven't they?" the fretful, young Dibuja asked, nervously using her blocky hands to clump her handful of blonde, stringy hair into a crude ponytail. "How many is that now, gone to who-knows-where?"

"More'n a few." her friend replied, almost distantly, as he sat on the foot of her soft rock-mattressed bed. Kotamaton was an adolescent, same as her, yet he was much more matured. As the son of the Big Brother, the truth of the recent happenings was not hidden from him.

The calm tone he used didn't please her. "You don't seem too worried, Kotamaton." she said icily. "And the odd thing is, you should be more worried than I am. Some great Goron leader _you'll_ make someday, when you care nothing about protecting your people."

Kotamaton pulled his half-grown form from the bed, wincing slightly at her harsh words. The truth was that he did care, a lot; and that was why he was about to set off on an important mission.

"Are we going to go today?" he asked impatiently. Dibuja nodded and the two set off down the corridor to the Great Chamber. From there, they would do as they always did, continue their ongoing exploration of the old Dodongo trails. Since the pesky lizards had been vanquished from the main village, many of the trails and caves had been forgotten. The two had dedicated much of their youth to change that.

"I just think you could be doing more to help." she said shortly as they walked. "You will someday be the leader of us all."

"Come Dibuja, I'm still young. There isn't much I'm expected to do now. When I'm older, that's when all the responsibility will be mine. Now hurry," he added, almost an afterthought, "I want to make it back to the Chambers of the Sun before dark and I can't really remember the way."

It pained him to lie to her like that. He may have been young, but a lot was expected of him. His father needed every able-bodied Goron who could be trusted to know they were in a state of emergency to help in whatever way they could.

He didn't want to go to the Chambers of the Sun for the simple reason of exploration. Since the truth was he was only a child, he was given the least dangerous of the jobs: finding food. No one knew it yet, but the food supplies were running low and they were on the verge of famine with no way down to the Dodongo Cavern above ground. Kotamaton turned his long, brown lips into a deep frown, lost in his worries about the siege.

There was no other word for it. They were being held inside their homes by some unknown enemy. Any Goron who dared venture out of the rock walls never returned. Sometimes their rotting, half-eaten corpses would be dropped right outside the main gate, like a warning of what would happen to heroic others who left.

Dibuja didn't know any of it. She, like the rest, were kept oblivious to everything by his father, who was following the advice of his most trusted advisor, Sado. Behind the back of the old Goron, the Big Brother had told Kotamaton that he didn't agree with doing it. He believed they had to work together, but didn't dare to bring it up with the more experienced advisor.

"Are you all right?" Dibuja turned her round, purple eyes to him, worry imprinted on her rocky cheeks. "You seem a little more preoccupied than usual. Are you sure nothing is wrong? It would be killing me to know anything about what's going on, if I knew all my people were going to disappear. I know nothing and I'm still dying of worry." In typical Dibuja fashion, she was speaking as though she wanted to get all of her final words out before a bomb flower went off. Along with constant rambling, it was one of her biggest habits.

Kota let out a laugh, one of a worried Goron trying to hide his feelings. Though his friend was far from convinced, she knew it meant he wanted to deal with this on his own. "If you are so worried about it," he said with the fakest grin he had ever produced, "let a day of tunnel wandering ease your mind."

The walls of the corridor spread out around them, reaching out to form the cavernous Great Chamber. The ceiling loomed high above their, sporting the paintings happy and victorious Goron warriors had put up there a couple generations before when they won the caverns from the Dodongos. The three floors housed underneath were also covered in the happy paintings.

Subconsciously, they climbed the stairs to reach the top level and went directly to the hall that would eventually take them to the Chambers of the Sun, granted they took the right turns. On their previous exploration, they had discovered the two rooms and were forced to turn back because of the moon shining through the flower petal slits in their ceilings. Now there would be no turning back until they found a tunnel down to the Dodongo Caverns, which they would hopefully find there.

They walked through the inclining corridor on the top floor, which led to Mama Ranchi's room, in peace. Kota's eyes wandered the walls, which were here painted with large female Gorons. The chamber ahead was always destined to be the home of the Goron mamas, who were obviously portrayed. The old Goron generation had had Sheikah allies while painting this hall, and were able to prophecize the future mama's.

As they walked by the picture of Mama Ranchi (which was set off from the rest because it wore a green scarf like the one the real Mama never removed), Kota was reminded of his younger days. How he missed the time when he was under the Mama's care, listening to the then-frightening stories of Dodongos and their dragon cousins. Hearing her puzzle over why she was shown on the wall protecting young ones from what appeared to be a ball of flame.

"Why do you want to go back to the Chambers of the Sun?" Dibuja asked quietly, as they passed through the doorway of the Mama's dark chamber. The rock bed and matching desk/chair set looked disused, even though Mama Ranchi had been in there only an hour before using them. Even the green and yellow crocheted rug where nightly stories were told looked like it hadn't been sat on for years in the dim light. Dibuja couldn't repress a shudder.

Kota didn't answer her right away; instead he went to the only sconce in the room. Its usual bright, blazing fire had been dimmed to a small flame that gave the room its eerie look. Wearing his permanent frown, he pulled the connecting leg that had never been nailed into place. It bent up easily, creating a small opening beneath it.

"Just come," he said softly, "I'll tell you when we get there."

The entrance had been sealed by the old Gorons (no Dodongo could have thought of such a clever way to seal it, or have pulled it off), though for whatever reasons were long lost. Kotamaton had the feeling they didn't want anyone to get in there, for the entrance was the most well-hidden and hardest to get through either of them had ever come across.

It was a tiny hole. An infant could crawl through easily, but a full-grown Goron would have gotten their head stuck. The two were in between and though they had trouble getting through, they weren't yet large enough to get too stuck. Kota grabbed his knees and huddled, rolling forward to the hole slowly.

The walls around him became tight, and Kota found his mind wondering how many more times he would be rolling down Death Mountain, or even through empty passages in the underground village early in the morning. Would he ever have the chance to take the test of manhood, rolling down the Death Mountain Trail with a bomb flower in his hands?

Unless they could find food, or the older Gorons could find and get rid of their unknown threat, the answer would be no.

On the other side, he remembered why he had planned to bring a torch. This path was unlit, and he wasn't even sure if their were any sconces between where he stood and the entrance to the Chambers of the Sun.

That is, other than the one behind him. He helped Dibuja stand up when she was through the passage, then pulled the loose leg on the sconce partnering the first to seal the opening.

"I should have thought to bring a stick." Kota said, using his left arm to find the wall.

"It's all right," Dibuja replied. "I prefer the dark anyway. It makes it so much more peaceful walking down these old tunnels." Her free hand found his and both began to walk, unafraid of losing the path or losing each other.

To describe the walls that run along under their rough fingers, grimy would be too much of an understatement. Kota had to focus all of his self-control (which, to his dismay, he found wasn't as strong as he'd thought) on not cringing back. Layers of the slimy filth parted at his touch, revealing a very thick layer of hardened slime that his nibbled fingernails could barely even scratch. Thick tongue sticking out in disgust, he forced himself with all his might to go on.

"How much farther?" From his right, Dibuja's voice was speeding up the words again. Taking a strangled breath, she continued, "This stuff is really, really gross, and I can't let go because I'll walk straight into the wall! I know how fast these old passages can turn!"

And so she went on, jabbering about her fears for a few minutes, during which the passage turned dangerously to the right twice just to prove her right. She might have gone on so for the rest of the trip if Kota didn't shush her.

"Listen, do you hear that?" he whispered.

Dibuja froze, whimpering softly. The sound of footsteps had picked up behind them, rippling the ground. Squeezing her hand comfortingly, Kota turned around to face what was coming after them.

"What is it?" Dibuja sounded like she was crying, and Kota couldn't blame her. The eyes that stared down at him from a good few feet above his head had broken his vocal cords. The mean, isosceles-triangle-shaped eyes bit into his own, holding his stare. He tried to tell her to run, to go on to the chambers, but he couldn't even speak- or breath- until it was too late and she had turned around.

Her bomb-equivalent scream was cut short when she, too, lost her voice. She groped for his hand, which had been lost in his shock, and, upon locating it, held on so tight that a single step backwards would have ripped it off.

The monster, or whatever else it could be, did not like the sound of Dibuja's shout. From the moment its eyes closed painfully in response to the ear-splitting sound, Kota knew what he was going to do next. They would be in danger of being trampled, and now his own legs had become composed of heavier rock.

"Gooooodawaaaaaaaawrrrr! Goorona! Goorona! DOOOODONGO!" They were screams that could only come from one creature created by Farore: a full-grown, vicious Dodongo.

Kota tried to run, his muscles energized by the sound. However, he was slowed by Dibuja, who managed to get her own limbs frozen tight by the guttural, heavily angered yells. Seconds later, she had snapped out of it and ran ahead of him.

Pooomfff! Pooomfff! Pooomfff!

Though it was much slower than they were, the monstrous Dodongo had many abilities that the small Gorons did not. Besides being able to cover a lot more ground with each step, it had a power it absolutely loved to show off: fire breath. It blew a single, small flame that travelled above the heads of both Gorons to light every sconce to the end of the corridor section.

"How are we going to get away?" Dibuja yelled back wildly.

"I haven't a single clue." her companion replied. "Let's just get to the Chambers of the Sun! Perhaps we can defeat it there!"

Ahead of him, Dibuja passed the last lit sconce and rounded a sharp corner into darkness. Kota was ready to follow when he heard a crack that nearly made him sick.

  
  
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And there you have it, chapter one. I know it wasn't that good. Either way, thank you for reading it, and with any hope I'll be motivated to type chapter two a lot sooner! (Three months is waaaaaay too long to make my poor readers wait, don't you agree?


	3. Mama Ranchi

I have no excuse this time. I'll only say this: it took me less than three months to type. In fact, I believe it's been less than a month. Either way, just scream at me for being late and then enjoy the chapter.

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. I own a copies of the great games, but not the idea for them. This storyline and its characters belong to me!

  
  
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Chapter Two: Mama Ranchi

Mama Ranchi was not a happy Goron. The green scarf that any young Goron would swear was built in had been unwrapped to expose the scars that lined her neck and was being swung threateningly between her two powerful arms. She stood over her fallen chair with a glare in her eyes focused at Kuranon, the Goron leader, and his head advisor, Sado.

  
  


"I cannot believe you, Kuranon," she said, trying to keep the calm in her voice. Resisting the urge to show her leader how much she was refusing to believe his decision, she righted the chair she had knocked over in the burst of rage. While she wore a soft and somewhat understanding smile while facing Kuranon, it turned sour as she turned to address Sado. "Now you, well, I would expect nothing less from you. Still... to do something so heartless?"

  
  


Sado walked carefully around the square table still covered with the remains of breakfast, a calm expression on his face and the air of one approaching an enraged wild beast in his step. "Calm Down, Madame Ranchi, the two are quite capable of attending to themselves...." He placed his hand soothingly on her arm, the wrong move to make. 

  
  


"They are _children_ for the sake of Nayru!" she erupted, faster and meaner than Death Mountain, tearing her arm loose of Sado's grip. Again she held up her scarf in a menacing way. She was easily the strongest Goron in the village, but never before had she threatened a living life with it.

  
  


"Please don't go killing each other off!" Kuranon begged, leaning over the wooden table in a pleading manner. "Sado, just back off and let me explain things to Ranchi in my own way. Why don't you go back to the cavern and make sure breakfast is going smoothly?"

  
  


Sado dropped his jaw, ready to make the comeback that only he could explain the situation right, but he was too terrified of what Ranchi could do to him in her current mood. With silent obedience, he bowed deeply enough to touch the rug-laden floor of the chamber and retreated from the Big Brother's room.

  
  


"I do look forward to hearing you explain this, Kuranon." Ranchi said impatiently once the Goron had disappeared. "You had better have a good reason for endangering the lives of your son and my daughter, or we may be in need of a new Big Brother."

  
  


Kuranon spread his lips into a tiny grin. "Yes, I expected some hostility from you. At least I told you the truth about where Dibuja was instead of following Sado's advice and telling a lie."

  
  


Mama Ranchi crossed her arms, determined not to allow herself to be led off track by anything her leader said. "Please, Kuranon," she prompted, showing an impatience that none had ever seen before, not even the children. "Just get on with it already. I'm almost ready to go into the caves after them."

  
  


"There is no need to get upset. I'm sure you'll agree with me that there is no harm in sending the two out to do what they always do. If you haven't noticed yet, Ranchi, our children love to wander the passages. Since my son was so intent on helping our crisis, it seemed only the natural thing to have him do."

  
  


The Goron Mama was still not convinced. "The only _explore_ the caverns by nature. They don't try to find ways down to the Dodongo Cavern. They could starve to death in there. Or, if the rumours are true, they could be eaten by the Dodongos that have returned there."

  
  


"There are rumours that the Dodongos have returned?" Kuranon turned his look of surprise into another of his famous thin smiles. "I should have guessed. I told Sado that you would think up your own explanations of what is happening, but I would have never thought.... No, what plagues us right now is far worse than Dodongos. It's worse than I'd like to say."

  
  


"If it's not a Dodongo return, what else could it be? In all of my days, I've never heard of anything worse than those dinosaur lizards being a mentionable menace to us." Ranchi took her seat at the table again, and lifted a jug of water (they had been mysteriously low on Lava Juice for a while now) to pour into her cup. Any young Goron would take this as a sign of her calming a temper and regaining her patience.

  
  


Kuranon sat back on the other side. "I'm sure you are aware that the statue of the first Big Brother behind me masks the entrance to the Death Mountain Crater. It is in there that our attacker lives," -he paused as the jug clanked to the floor- "Sadly, I know nothing about him but what my father told me before setting out to fight the beast and prove himself nearly eight years ago."

  
  


"You mean that a monster in the crater killed old Matsabo? I had always though he met a fatal fall from the top of the crater." Ranchi placed both of her hands, one still clutching her green scarf, flat on the table in the tradition Goron mournful pose.

  
  


Rising, Kuranon crossed the bare part of the floor in a few strides to stand before the statue. "Yes, you were meant to think that.

  
  


"Before he was killed, my father left in my possession a scrap of parchment that held a riddle and an old, rusty hammer that's been passed down through the Big Brothers since our nomadic days."

  
  


"I know of the hammer," Mama Ranchi said, nodding her head to where it rested on hooks in the wall, "but I'd like to see this riddle." As she spoke, Kuranon was already reaching into a small, secret compartment on the side of the statue. Among the miscellaneous items hidden inside the statue's arm, he surfaced with a tiny, rolled scrap of parchment.

  
  


He tossed it to Ranchi. "Here, take a look for yourself.

  
  


Pushing away plates to give herself more room, she unrolled the parchment and, holding it down, read it aloud.

  
  


"_ Say two ay's, give one eye,  
And hear his young cry.  
One gee and two spears  
Can't even pierce his rear.  
Shout an oh, walk an ell,  
Then tell what this will spell.  
  
Enemy grown, danger nigh,  
Use what on the wall is high.  
A magician's curse, years after  
Will complete the will of a beggar.  
Heed these words, don't be a fool,  
And my fate shall not be for you._

  
  


"Well, Kuranon, what does all of this mean?" Ranchi asked, brows furrowed. "To me, it's only nonsense. How does this help us?"

  
  


"I'm as mystified as you. I've puzzled over it for hours, but I haven't made head or tails of it. I can only figure out that the first lines are supposed to spell something and in order to defeat the monster, you need something kept on a wall." Kuranon sighed. "I was hoping you'd see the answer, but I guess we're just two stumped Gorons."

  
  


Urgent footsteps made Ranchi let go of the parchment, allowing it to roll back up. Sado burst into the room, a terrified look on his face. "Th-the young ones started a food war in the cavern! I don't know what to do."

  
  


As was to be expected, Ranchi fell into her natural Mama mode and ran from the chamber, tucking the green scarf back around her neck. As soon as she was gone, Sado took a position against the wall of the Big Brother's room, staring menacingly at his leader from the shadows.

  
  


"You told her everything, didn't you?" he demanded. "No, there's no need to answer me. I can tell by that look on your face. _Why_ did you not listen to me? Don't you realize what madness will start in the rest of them?"

  
  


Kuranon sat strong. "I cannot believe you won't listen to me, Sado. I've told you so many times that we must trust them to overcome this crisis with us that there's no longer any point in repeating it."

  
  


Sado came forward and sat down in the chair next to Kuranon. Placing his hand on the leader's shoulder, he said with careful emphasis, "Kuranon, they will not overcome this. All that will come from revealing the truth is chaos. Their panic will stop us from solving this ourselves."

  
  


"No. If some crater monster is truly attacking us as you say, the best thing we can do is gather everyone up to fight it off together. If I remain a strong leader, they will remain strong behind me."

  
  


Shaking his head, Sado stood back up. He spoke softly, saying words only meant for his own ears. "No, Big Brother, you are wrong. Getting everyone into this will only result in more deaths. Ah, well, it will be your loss. Or," -he began to back away, returning down the passageway through which he had come- "rather, it would be, should you survive the attack. Too bad both the Big Brother and his son are to die.

  
  


"I'll just have to take over what's left of the Gorons afterward."


	4. Prayer to the Goddess

Chapter Three: Prayer to the Goddess

  


A grim frown came across Nelori's face. Though she knew it would only make her angrier, she picked the letter from the desk and read it again.

  
  
__

Queen Nelori,  
We are very worried about the situations atop Death Mountain. There are no shipments of bombs coming down, and few scouts that we've sent up to the Gorons have returned.  
  
On top of that, one of our few scouts who did make it home brought with them the body of a Goron that they found a little way up the trail. It was at least a couple weeks dead, and it was stripped of most of its flesh and muscle. This has led us to believe that something is attacking the Gorons, probably holding them in seige.  
  
However, the Sheikahs are alone not strong enough to hold off whoever is up there. Our forces are weak after our war with the Hylians only months ago. We believe that the Gorons are in serious need of help, though, so we are asking you to come to their aid. We wish you to send a portion of your army to our city to march and help who's left up there.  
  
We shall supply those who can come with food, but weapons and clothing are short here and we ask that you supply it yourselves. Horses would prove useful, if you should be able to spare any, as we have several riding trails along the side of the mountaing.   
  
In light of the current situation, we are sorry to inform you that the order of bombs you wanted shall not arrive for a while. We realize what this will do in building your valley, but we have no control over it.  
  
Sorry again,  
Queen Kama of Kakariko

  
  


Again Nelori threw the letter to the desk. Not only would all the progress stop in the Gerudo Valley, Queen Kama made it sound like it would never start again. Far from being concerned about the Gorons, she was concerned with her own people. Homes had to be built for the steadily growing population, and with their dwindling supply of bombs, it would become impossible.

  
  


"Miss Nelori?" the head of her Second-in-Command popped into the door frame of her chamber, "Is there bad news?"

  
  


"Yes." Once more, she picked up the letter and scanned it. With a small growl of irritation, she handed it to Keri. "Read it."

  
  


Keri stepped into the room and accepted the letter. Her yellow eyes snapped back and forth quickly as she read the Sheikah characters, mentally translating them into their own language.

  
  


"They want help from us?" she asked when she was done, "Right after we helped with their defeat in their war?"

  
  


Nelori shook her head in anger. "The foolish Gorons are probably stuck on their mountain, helpless and vulnerable. They're too weak to protect themselves, as the only weapons they really have are their bombs, and when they die out they'll freeze Hyrule in the Dark Age."

  
  


Keri nodded knowingly. She knew her leader well enough to know that she would be on the edge between anger and fear. The very broad edge where she had seemed to spend most of her time since she became the official wife of the Gerudo King. "Yeah, we'll go back to being nomads again if we can't build a place to live. We might as well all go and save the time."

  
  


A glow lit the Gerudo Queen's features. "No, Keri," she said, "we won't be giving up like that. I've lived here for ten years awaiting the completion of our city, and I won't let the Gorons die out before it can happen. Gather for me half of the Elite Force."

  
  


Nothing could match the shock Keri felt. She could have sworn that her queen would never lower herself to helping another race. It always took a threat or attack on them to get them into a war. Still, she wouldn't argue. "Miss Nelori!" she said with a stiff salute before running from the cool, dark chamber into the hot, bright sands of the desert courtyard beyond it.

  
  


*** * ***

  
  


Fourteenth hour hit the valley ruthlessly, bestowing upon it the daily heatwave. In four perfectly straight lines, well-trained Gerudo warriors stood, pretending to ignore the heat, with their heads tall, hands ready to reach their curved Remiru Swords kept at their sides.

  
  


Nineteen of the best fighters of the valley stood before her, ready and alert as always, but Nelori was still unsatisfied. The best warrior that the Gerudo had ever known, she had just learned, would not be accompanying them.

  
  


"Why," she demanded the unflinching faces that stared at her, "is Meriki not here?" A moment of silence followed. No one looked scared, yet no one dared to answer her. She said it louder, "Why?"

  
  


To her side, standing with her back pulled straight in the regal captain position, Keri gave a swift, one-kneed bow and spoke, "Miss Nelori, Meriki is too far pregnant to be able to join us. She is expected to give birth in twenty suns and nineteen moons."

  
  


"Ah, I understand." Nelori dropped her upset move in an instant. "So, our king's life has finally come to an end."

  
  


By the age-old Gerudo tradition laid upon them by the Goddesses, every one hundred years to the minute, a new Gerudo King was born. With the birth of this new male and the assurance that the race would survive another century, the older King was struck down, even though he was still in the prime of his life.

  
  


"To replace Meriki, I shall be coming along." Nelori's announcement dropped a few mouths, including Keri's. Though most of the gathered Gerudo wore varying degrees of shock, there were a few that had grown so used to their queen's impulsiveness they weren't the least bit surprised.

  
  


"B-but who will take over your duties while you are gone?" Keri asked, dreading the answer. "You certainly won't be back until long after our king is dead."

  
  


"You've always been an observant one, Keri," a hint of a smile played at Nelori's lips, "and always one thinking toward the future. If there is anyone who can take over my duties better than you, I haven't met them. So, that said, you are to be called the Queen of the Gerudo during my absence."

  
  


Keri fell to her knees in an all-out bow. With the king aware that he was about to face his death, she would much rather take her usual place as commander of the small army. He was very known by the legends to be very violent and in deep denial before the end of his life, and often tried to kill the child before it was born to prolong his life. It was the job of the Gerudo Queen, who never in their recorded history of nomads had been the carrier of the child, to protect the young male.

  
  


"Yes, Miss Nelori, I shall obey." Keri pulled herself up and stepped aside from the group, head hanging obediently.

  
  


A single snap of the Gerudo Queen's fingers, and the small regiment was out, merging into a single file line to cross the thin bridge spanning the canyon that cut their valley off from the rest of Hyrule. Keri watched them mount the horses on the other side and ride out, fear sinking her heart. Many said that Queen Nelori was completely insane, but next to her husband, she was on the other side of the scale.

  
  


Slowly, she became aware that her lip was trembling and her limbs were shaking. At the same time, she realized that the Gerudo warriors and their black mares were gone, galloping into the fields of Hyrule.

  
  


"Me and my big mouth." she muttered angrily. "Why must the Goddesses have cursed so?"

  
  


Angry with herself, she turned and made for the village. Only a few steps and her mind was changed. She needed to turn to someone for advice. Someone who would listen and never judge: the Sand Goddess.

  
  


*** * ***

  
  


Crossing the harsh desert was surprisingly easy for one who did it every ten moons. The raging sand storms and threat of leevers were nothing at all to a desert-dweller.

  
  


Not even an hour's passing later, Keri was kneeling before the statue of the Goddess in the Spirit Temple. Her bright yellow eyes, flanked by their lids of blue, were focused up at the concentrating stone face of the ancient carving. It had been built by the early Gerudo a few hundred years before, who had begun to settle into the desert at that time. It was no surprise, then, that they wanted their city close to it.

  
  


The hands of the Goddess were raised in the famous moment of her weighing of strength and intelligence. The way her hands were equally set showed that she had finally come to the enlightened conclusing that both were of matching importance. One needed strength, but it was useless without a strong mind behind it.

  
  


"Please, enlightened Goddess of the Sands, fill me with your peaceful meditation and the Wisdom of Nayru." Keri slid carefully into a crossed-legged position, closed her eyes, and held her hands of as a scale. "Give me the Wisdom of Nayru and the Power of Din to weigh it down with."

  
  


A buzz filled her head, and, for a moment, she was convinced that it was the mental sound of power gathering. Then it began to give her a headache and seemed to rip her ears in half. Her eyes snapped open.

  
  


The sound hadn't been anything near true enlightenment. A door had slid open in the lap of the Goddess, a door that had perfectly fit into her stomach to hide a secret chamber, or passageway. Whatever lay behind the mysterious door was completely unlit.

  
  


Curiosity overpowered Keri. All Gerudo training told her it was very foolish to walk into a dark place not knowing what was inside, but the curiosity-corrupted part of her mind won. Somehow it convinced her that it would be all right if she went in. This was the _Goddess_, she wouldn't let anything bad happen to her; she had never strayed from Her teachings.

  
  


Scrambling, she climbed up the Goddess's crossed legs to reach the door. It was strange to see Her with a great, gaping black hole in Her starved stomach, right where Her belly-button was supposed to go.

  
  


Without a second thought as to where it might lead her or what might be inside, she launched herself into the darkness at a half-run. Here she was, going in on what had to be a challenge or discovery that the Goddess Herself had set up for her.   
  


Behind her, unnoticed in the sudden, conquering excitement, the large stone door slid back into place.


	5. Plans Interferred

Sorry about the loooong wait. I've been having computer problems. After spending a month without a computer, I had all of my files deleted several times, then suffered the Blaster Worm (I still don't know how we got rid of it), but now I'm back. Most of chapter five's done, so it should be up on Saturday. After that, I hope to have a new chapter every Saturday.

  
  


Disclaimer: Let's go over it again. I don't own the Legend of Zelda. I own many of the characters, but I don't own Volvagia. You can't copy my story because it belongs to me.

  
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**Chapter Four: Plans Interferred**

  


"Dibuja!" Kotamaton knelt over his friend's unconcious body. "Dibuja, get up! The Dodongo's coming! We have to get out of here now!" Frantically, he tried kicking her in the stomach.

  


She didn't even flinch. The intervaled pounding of the Dodongo's feet became louder and louder, making the walls of the cave shudder as though they were going to give way and fall in.

  


Tears wet his eyes. His closest friend was down and he wasn't sure whether he'd be able to save her. Her breath caught in her chest, her stomach rose up and down slower than the monster's feet. "Please," he muttered wildly, barely daring to even look down on her, "Please, Nayru, give her your protection. Let her live."

  


THUD...!

  


It was coming closer!

  


THUD...!

  


Another of the heavy fore-paws fell, and a scraping told him that the large, flat stomach was being draged along. Kota grabbed Dibuja's arms and dragged her backwards and blindly down the corridor.

  


Yet another heavy step followed. Kotamaton sped up and ran backwards with both of his hands keeping a sweaty grip on both of hers. He had no idea where he was going, and at the moment it didn't matter. He was propelled on by fear, by his will to keep his life... and Dibuja's.

  


His back hit a rock wall at the same time as one gravelly-yellow eye entered the turn that had been Dibuja's last. Somewhere in front of its narrowed, glaring eye, the monster let loose a snort of flame. The sound of heavy sniffing followed. Kota cowered, willing to be absorbed into the wall; the Dodongo's nose was pinpointing his location by the stench of fear.

  


He was getting desperate. Adrenaline lent him the strength he needed to swing Dibuja over his back. Supporting her limp but heavy body with one hand, he ran the other against the wall to avoid another accident.

  


That same adrenaline burst through his veins lent him speed as well, and for that he was thankful. There was only one way he was going to survive this, and that would be to outrun the Dodongo.

  


Kota had never run so fast in his life. Through the twisting corridors he ran, barely making hard, hairpin turn, and never losing the constant thud of Dodongo feet behind him. It did not matter that his feet were sore, and that Dibuja seemed to be growing heavier. All that mattered was that he kept running, kept running until there was no question that he was safe.

  


After an eternity, the corridor opened up into the afternoon sunlit Chambers of the Sun. The sun that blazed through the slits cut all over the ceiling blinded Kotamaton for a minute.

  


As his vision slowly returned, the pesky heavy footsteps grew louder and louder behind him. The precious time was passing, and Kota was finding it impossible to move. He had to hide somewhere fast. He had to get to a place where the Dodongo wouldn't be able to follow them.

  


The perfect place was staring right at him. Hidden well between two overlapping rock wall faces, another corridor continued. Even if the Dodongo knew where they had gone, there was no way he would fit between the two walls.

  


With the last strength and bit of adrenaline he had, Kotamaton ran across the chamber, sprinting through the light in plain sight of the monster rounding the corner behind them. Angry that its prey was getting away, it let loose a roar that rattled the layers of rock under the cave.

  


"HOOOOOOOWWROOOOOAAARR!"

  


Kota froze. His knees turned from rock to water, as did his arms. He dropped Dibuja on the ground and managed to take a single step before falling himself. The loud, quick-paced footsteps of a Dodongo closing in for the kill echoed through Kota's chest. He was going to die, die in what his father had insisted was the safest area for a young Goron.

  


No one would know he was dead. It would take weeks for them to realize he wasn't going to return, and by that time nearly everyone would be dead from starvation. Who's fault would it be? His! He had been the one unable to fend off a Dodongo. He was the one too cowardly to save even his closest friend from such a gruesome death.

  


Suddenly, he was moving again. He craned his head to see the Dodongo, still lumbering slowly foward, but also getting further away little by little. He has moving towards the safety of the next corridor, but how?

  


Groggily, he turned his head upward to see who was dragging him across the floor. It had taken him until now to realize that someone had grabbed his arm and taking him along. It couldn't have been.... But it was, Dibuja had recovered and was now saving his life.

  
  
* * *  
  


High above the two youthful Gorons, two glowing eyes watched them escape. Two glowing eyes that shone out of a mask of bone. The now fully-grown Volvagia used his dark brand of magic to keep an eye on the youth he called "fated" through a magical mirror laid on one of the lava pits.

  


His long snout twisted into a smile as the two Gorons finally escaped his Dodongo. He had not expected the monster he created in the passage to take care of them, not even close. It was more a test to see how strong the fated Goron boy was. With the girl Dibuja by his side, the boy would be harder to take out. Her will was just as strong as his.

  


Three smaller dragons, which more closely resembled little balls of red-hot flames rather than actual dragons, swarmed him. More followed. These little buggers were, more or less, his children, born when he went through a molt every time the full moon struck the pool of his birth.

  


By the time the larger events of his plans took place, most of these offspring would have matured into larger, more aggressive beasts, strong and willing for Volvagia's grand army. Now, though, they were young, impressionable, reckless, trouble-making, and, more than anything else, annoying.

  


"Ayayah, Papa!" they cried in their small, high-pitched voices, speaking in unison as usual. "Sado is returned. Ayayayah, Goron bring news of below."

  


With great displeasure, the great dragon turned away from his pool. At first, having a spy in the Goron Village seemed like a good idea. Especially when he had such an eager, cowardly, and selfish volunteer who was willing to stab his own people in their backs in order to save his own life.

  


Now, he wished he'd eaten the Goron when he had the chance. Sado's reports were frequent, repetitive, and more annoying than the "Ayayayah" singing of his offspring.

  


"Tell him to waiiiit for meee." Volvagia replied wearily. "I will join him iiin a moment, when I have prepared mysself to ssseee him."

  


Ayayahing and trying to overtake each other in a half-flown, half-run race, the numurous flame balls sped off to make their master's wishes known. Volvagia watched them go, then returned to his surveillance mirrors. The mirror showing the two Gorons was not the only one he had set up. There were five other one around it, each featuring one of the other fated ones. One of each of the races, Volvagia had determined through careful, complicated predictions and study of myths and prophecies that each of them would play an important role in his plans, whether they would be helping or trying to stop them.

  


"Don't tell me it's the 'Amazing Six' again." the confident voice of Sado made Volvagia grit his yellow, sharp teeth. "When are you going to stop living in their worldand return to your own? I fear that Big Brother is getting suspicious of what's going on. He held a secret meeting with that Ranchi woman and I think he might have told her something about you."

  


"Fool!" Volvagia roared the word with such fury that he shot a spout of flame high into the air. He circled his skulled head under the scaly stick of his body to see that Sado had been terrified into his ball-form. "How manyyy times do I haaave to tell yooou that Kuranon isss no the threat? It isss hisss son who posesss the danger."

  


The coward he had hired could do naught but cower and shiver. A malicious grin opened on Volvagia's mouth. He had made a deal that he wouldn't eat the Goron, but there was nothing to stop him from having a little fun. Especially if he could get rid of Sado.

  


"You know Sssado, I dooo not take well to thossse who fail meee. If I grow too unhappyyy with yooou, I may decide to eat Gorooon for sssnack. You rockyyy hides may be unpleasant to get through, but the inssside tastesss deliciousss!" As he spoke the words, he flew in circles around the Goron, winding closer and closer around his body.

  


Sado began to shiver so badly that he was in danger of hurting himself. "Enough!" the dragon snapped, pulling away and returning to the side of his pool. "If yoooou want to live, return tooo your village and bring me no more newsss until yooou hear of the boy."

  


"But, my Lord Volvagia...."

  


"No butsss! Yooou are getting in my waaaay up here. Now bee gone with yooou before I reeeally do decide to eat yooou." Ignoring the stuttering Goron, Volvagia turned back around to focus on his mirrors. Poor Sado was left to wander back to the Goron Village, berating himself and his fool performance, wondering whatever had brought him up to his moody master in the first place.


	6. Princess Tsera

**Chapter Five: Princess Tsera**

"Tsera, get away from there!"

Caught red-handed by her nurse, the ever-watchful Amana, the Sheikah Princess threw her hands up and backed away from the gate muttering. Sighing annoyance, she swung her head, pale but sporting dark make-up around her features, to face her nurse. Her hair, done up in its usual black braid, hit the small of her back and rested there until Tsera's hand shot back to play with it.

Instead of wearing the usual noble black dress, Tsera was clad in grey traveling clothes embroidered with the Sheikah eye. She wasn't bothered at all by the torn state of her garmets, but they made her nurse shake her head with exasperation. Amana grabbed her half-bare arm and began to drag her back into Kakariko.

"Princess Tsera, I do not know what is wrong with you! You look a fright, your skin feels a dreadful mess, and how many times have I told you that the Death Mountain Trail is off-limits?" The nurse shook her head and let out a sound of frustration. She knew that none of her words were getting into the Sheikah princess's thick head.

"Not enough?" Tsera supplied in answer to the question, angry that she was beging dragged back to the Kakariko Palace. She had been so close to escaping this time. So close to making it to the Goron Village where she could solve the mystery herself and become a hero. She had been too close to doing something that would finally make her be seen as mature in the eyes of her Sheikah elders.

But she had been caught. Instead of being praised for bravery and awarded for maturity in a potentially fatal situation, she would be seen as the Sheikah population had always seen her: as a disobediant child who deserved more discipline and more boundaries. Had she not been trying to be adult and mature, she would have fallen into one of her old crying fits as her nurse dragged her through the redwood hallways of the castle to her mother's chamber.

The abundance of tall redwood and oak trees in the area had given Kakariko a unique look. Instead of being carved into rock like the Goron and Gerudo settlements, or made of bricks like the Hylian village, Kakariko was made entirely out of wood. The only people who lived in a more alive-looking city were the Kokiri's hidden in their forest.

The queen of the Sheikah wasn't happy to be interrupted in her private chamber, especially when it was Amana dragging in her daughter. Wearily, she got up from her window seat and excused the nurse from the room.

"Do you mind confessing what you did this time, daughter?" the queen asked, leading the princess to the square pine table she kept in the center of her room. They sat down opposite each other in the stiff-backed chairs "Keep in mind that whether you tell me the truth or not, you shall suffer a long lecture."

Tsera shrugged. "So I tried to sneak out of Kakariko again."

"What do you mean, 'so?'" Queen Kama roared, nearly knocking her chair backwards. "I have told you a dozen times that it is too dangerous to attempt climbing Death Mountain. Even if there was not something happening up there, there is always the potential that you could get hurt or killed!"

The princess rolled her eyes and lowered her head onto the table. "It has been more than a dozen times, mother. So just save me the lecture because I apparently am not listening to anything."

Breathing deeply to control her rage, Kama reached over and placed her hands tightly over her daughter's. "Do you know why I give you these lectures, Tsera? It is not so you can ignore me or give me your attitude. I do it for you, I am trying to protect you from danger. Please, just listen to me for once."

Tearing her hands away from her mother's, Tsera fixed her with an angry glare. "I have heard this enough times to have it memorized. I know that I am not supposed to go up the Mountain because it has become dangerous. I am going to ask you for a straight-forward answer this time, though, Mother. I want to know _why_ I can no longer take my usual walks along the mountain paths."

"Why do you always do this to me, Daughter? Have I not told you many times that not even I know what is up there?" It was hard for Kama to control her anger. She was used to defending herself in the meetings of the Court and being a ruthless queen, not having to deal with the rebellious adolescent who was usually left in the care of her nurse. Sighing heavily with annoyance, she got up and went to the door.

"I am going to have a guard take you to your chambers. There you are going to stay until the heads of the other cities come here and we decide what to do with the crisis on Death Mountain." The queen said, opening the door and snapping for the attention of the nearest castle guard. "At least there you will be out of our way and out of trouble."

Kama watched her daughter follow the guard and Amana to her chambers shaking her head. How could her daughter, the destined future queen of Kakariko, be so insolent and childish? By this age she should be mature enough to realize this was a serious time, not just for the Gorons or them, but the entire world. Unable to understand it, she went the other way down the hall to where she was to meet with her council.

* * *

"There's nothing up here!" Tapen cried in frustration. Pulling on the reigns of his white stallion, he rode back to where his partner was searching. "It's useless, we ought to just go back."

Kamisa, who was as annoyed by her companion as by how ridiculous her job was, was all for going back. "All right, we should just go try to see if we can enter the Goron Village, then we'll go back home."

The two Sheikah scouts were taking their horses carefully along the worn paths of Death Mountain, out on a mission to find any signs of what was wrong with the Gorons. Though it was dangerous to take horses on the steep and rough mountain, they needed a way to easily escape back to Kakariko in case something should go wrong and they should get attacked.

They went ahead slowly, trying already to see if they could get in the village and carefully looking at the mountainside around them for any clues of what had been going on. The last scout who was sent up the mountain had come in five minutes after discovering an old, half-eaten Goron body and getting terribly sick from the sight and smell. Hopefully they would find nothing like that, but there was no way to tell.

Tapen, who was riding at the lead, stopped his horse a few minutes later and leaped off. Coming up behind him slowly, Kamisa saw that his gaze was fixed on something stuck in a small push on the side of the path. She carefully climbed down from her mare and came up behind him.

"What is it?" she whispered, scared she might regret it.

He leaned down silently and plucked it from the bush. Holding it up for Kamisa to see, he shrugged, "I'd say it's either a Goron child's doll or a creepy voodoo doll dropped by a magician." Angry at the innapropriately timed joke, Kamisa smacked the back of his head and snatched it away.

"Tapen, just try to be serious for once!" she snapped, rolling her eyes and examining the item. True enough, it did look like a doll. It's eyes were wide and almost sad looking, its arms, legs and fat stomach were singed like it had barely survived a fire. "Well, we have something now. We might as well head back home."

"And you told _me_ to be serious!" Still leaning down, Tapen fell to his hands and knees and began digging through the brush. "Do you think we can find anything else? If the doll got down here, something else is sure to have."

Kamisa headed back to her horse." Why don't you do the searching? Turn over every rock, cut through every bush, sniff out every scent in the air. If you _do_ manage to find anything else, come get me. I'll be happily resting back in the village."

To mock her, Tapen took in a deep breath as if searching for a scent. Almost immediately, a terrible look came over his face, as though he were about to lose his stomach.

Kamisa rolled her eyes again. "Sheez. And to think they have said that males are supposed to be the smarter of us. Stop playing around now so we can head back.

"No, Kamisa, I'm serious! Take a sniff"

Deciding it wouldn't hurt to play along with him, she took in a deep breath of the fresh mountain air.

Fresh was no way to describe it, though. She gagged on the smell and buried her nose against her horse's side to keep herself from passing out. The air was putrid, reminding her of the scent of the battlefields she'd had to clean several years ago during the Sheik-Hylian War. Something had died not far away, and had been left out to rot under the sun.

Unable to say anything, she joined Tapen over by the bush again. Both of them knew they had to find out where the smell was coming from, it was their job. Still, neither wanted to do it. If it stunk like death this badly, it was certainly something they didn't want to see.

It only took a few minutes of following their noses to find the source. In a small, burned-out crater covered from the main path by thick bushes, a bunch of half-rotted Goron bodies were sprawled out. It might have been a rushed burial ground but for the look of the dead. Their remaining flesh looked torn, like someone had ripped it off, or, even worse, _bitten_ it off.

Kamisa shuddered and took a step back. No matter how she tried, it was impossible to stop staring at the disgusting corpses. A heavy tear rolled down her cheek, and she swore she could hear Tapen whimpering next to her.

For several minutes all they could do was stare hopelessly at it. All that death in this one little area, yet no real clues as to what could have caused it. Both of them knew they should try to reach the Goron Village, but there was an overwhelming fear that they would be next to join the ranks of the half-rotted skeletons if they did. Without saying anything, they reached the agreement that they would just go back to the village. If anyone needed proof of something being wrong, this would certainly provide it.


	7. Destiny in the Nothing

Chapter Six: Destiny in the Nothing

The hot Hyrule sun set slowly on the small Gerudo camp. After their first day of travel, they could already see the distant shape of Death Mountain looming ahead. A red cloud that almost looked like flames circle of the top of the mountain, giving it a truly ominous look. Though its barren sides looked more inviting than the soft, wet grass currently under their feet, it was the last place in Hyrule they wanted to go.

Most of them preferred instead to look to the south, where the rising moon met its softly rippling reflection in the calm waters of Lake Hylia. The lake was visible from their home, what with them living near one of its main feeding rivers, but from here it looked somehow more beatiful. From their river, its entirety was blocked off the sheer cliffs that seperated their desert from the rest of the world. Here, though, it was a place that seemed attainable. If the situation weren't so urgent, all of them would have gone to sit at its edge rather than try to sleep in the cold grass.

Nelori herself was staring straight ahead at their goal. To all of them, going to Death Mountain was unfavorable, but it was even more-so to her. Queen Kama seemed to have no idea was what going on with the Gorons, and it would thus be up to those gathered to find and solve the problem. She might be risking the lives of some of her best theives for an unknown cause.

And, even worse, what if nothing was truly wrong? What if the Gorons were only running low on bomb flowers or food (or whatever a rock person would eat) and had to spend a season growing instead of harvesting? It wouldn't be worth missing one of the most important Gerudo events, the birth of their next king, to help some starving race get back on its feet.

There was something about the Sheikah Queen's letter that suggested the problem was something more than that, though. Perhaps one of the old Dudungos had been discovered and the Gorons were having a hard time getting rid of it on their own. Hopefully this wouldn't take more than a few days and they'd get back in plenty of time to celebrate their future king.

Nelori had pleasant dreams that night, where the problems were solved, the Gerudo city was completely built and she, several years older, was helping the future king learn the skills he would someday need to rule a tribe of theives.

* * *

The two thoughts farthest away from Keri's mind were sleep, and the future king, whom it now would be her job to protect when he was born. She didn't know how long she had spent walking down the dark corridor, wondering where she was going and what would be awaiting her at the end. Her hands were running along either side of the corridor, feeling the perfectly placed stones, smoothed by her ancestors and placed so precisely that the seams between them were barely noticeable.

Hunger and exhaustion were beginning to grow inside her, but those hardly mattered. She didn't even recognize their presence in the curiosity that was controlling. All that she could think about now was of what lie ahead. Surely this place had some purpose, some magical way to connect to the Goddess and offer help to those who were in great need. If she could only figure out what was there, then she could pay attention to her other natural needs.

So long she spent following the corridor that she even began to wonder whether there truly was a purpose, if this wasn't some fool's trap built to get rid of those whose duties had been pushed aside and whose hearts were full of dishonor. This thought made her remember the soon-to-be-born king, and she began to wonder just how long she'd been in here.

This was no time to be wasting away in an endless cave. Keri had a duty to protect the future of her people, and the punishment for missing that would be worse than the torture of not knowing what this secret cave's purpose was. Only one thing could be done right now, she'd have to turn back and take Nelori's place as temporary leader of the Gerudo.

No matter how she urged herself to turn around, her feet refused to listen. They kept moving her forward, and the more she willed them to turn around, the faster they went, until she was nearly running again. Faster and faster she ran down the corridor, now not able to even slow herself down. The twists and turns came more often and more sharply, threatening to send her flying into a wall if she didn't stop running soon.

She finally was able to get back down to a walk just in time to hit a corner that was so sharp it doubled back in the direction of the previous corridor. Taking a few steps down it and wondering if she just hadn't finally turned around, Keri saw something that looked almost alien to her.

There was a light up ahead. The soft golden glow was tiny and dim, but was still enough to nearly blind her unprepared eyes. Was this it, the end that her mysterious journey had led her to? This time when she tried to run towards it, her feet were once again being disobediant and she found herself unable to go any faster than a slow, steady walk. It felt like there was something ahead that would be unwise to run to.

It took ages to reach the light. Keri was sure by the time she reached it that she'd missed hundreds of years of history in the outside world, and there was no way of knowing just how long it had taken. When she was finally near enough, the corridor around her blossomed into a small room, almost like a living quarter. A bed and an ancient armoire sat on two sides of the room, but all that mattered was the light that sat in the middle.

It was coming from a small, orangish orb that sat in a silver pedestal on the floor. The surface of the orb was an inviting smooth glass. Not even stopping to consider what it might be, Keri found her hands pulled to the orb like a magnet and she lay them on the top of it gently.

As soon as she touched it, the room around her disolved and she was pulled into another place, where everything was light.

Blue sky surrounded her on all sides, only whispy clouds kept her from falling to a ground she couldn't see. The sun couldn't be seen, but its light warmed her body and kept everything lit without offering shadows. Buildings and mountains very similar to what she had seen of Hyrule were resting on the clouds around her, and she knew in a heartbeat where she must be: the Sacred Realm.

"Ah, so you must be the Destined One." A figure appeared in front of her, Gerudo in appearence but with a grander aura. Her face was so familiar, matching almost perfectly the grand statue in the Spirit Temple. "I was afraid you would not arrive in time, but here you are, and with plenty of time to spare."

This was impossible. There was no way in all the world that this was real. She couldn't be where she was talking to who she was. And being called a destined one? She must have been hit by something, perhaps she really had run into one of the walls in the corridor and was making all of this up.

The Goddess smiled. "I realize how this must be for you. Your soul was summoned up to this realm from my orb because otherwise you would not fulfill your destiny. I do not exactly know what went wrong, but somehow you ended up not going with the others to Kakariko."

Keri was terribly confused by the whole thing. There was no chance for her to ask about anything, though, as the Goddess took her hand and they were swallowed by darkness. It was such a pure dark that she shouldn't have been able to see anything, yet could. The Goddess was so clear that it might have been the middle of the day. Smiling again at Keri's confused face, She conjured a small model of Death Mountain and the surrounding Kakariko area.

"As Goddesses, we have done our best to prevent all evil from entering our perfect land and destroying all that we have created. However, this one got through to our planet without our knowing, and the only way to get rid of it is to send some of our bravest to destroy it for us. One of you from each race is destined to destroy the monster before he can destroy you, and he knows who each of you are."

As She spoke, flames began to shoot out of the volcano and magma slowly poured down the sides. A small dragon crawled out of the crater, growing bigger and bringing destruction with his own fire.

"I am not supposed to be interferring with the way this goes, but I love my land too much to see it destroyed this way. You must set out to Kakariko immediately and lead the others who are Destined in stopping this great monster." Keri wanted to disagree, protest that it would be impossible for her to lead anything, but was silenced as the Goddess continued. "You shall know the Destined for who they are as soon as you see them. They stand out from the others like them, but only for those who share their Destiny."

The Goddess put a hand through her model, making it disappear. "Remember, my child, one of each race is like you. They need a leader if they are to be successful, and you have my blessing to do it. Hyrule depends upon you." She gave Keri a Kiss of Blessing on the forehead and the darkness around her began to disappear, melting into the dim Spirit Temple.

* * *

Keri found herself facing only the statue of the Goddess, her memories of meeting Her only a few moments before already hazy. Wondering if she hadn't gone insane, she searched the room for any signs that it had actually happened at all. No proof at all, except for the dim echoes of her words and that semi-present feeling of her strong aura.

Pulling herself up and feeling horribly dizzy, she knew that there was only one thing to be done. If the whole thing was real, she had no choice but to go and meet her supposed destiny. If it wasn't, well, she'd have to go anyway just to be sure.

Already forming excuses to leave in her mind, Keri left the Temple to go and make preparations to leave. Night had fallen, and it would be unwise to set out until morning, but in the meantime she'd appoint another Gerudo to watch over the king's birth and prepare her mare for the journey.

There was no way this was real, though. The idea that the fate of Hyrule could rest in the hands of her and five others who were "destined" was almost laughable.


	8. The Mysterious Puzzle

Chapter Seven: The Mysterious Puzzle

After a few more times reading through the riddle, Mama Ranchi was almost sure she knew what it meant. At least, she knew how it was supposed to be read. Only, exactly what it told her was still unknown and it made no sense when she read her interpretation.

Basically, the monster's name contained two A's, one I, one G, and another two letters that she couldn't figure out. Which letter could be a spear? Y? T? After that she knew that when the mystery enemy was fully grown its danger would be known and it would take something on the wall to defeat him. Finally, it was the curse of a magician, who was probably a beggar, that haunted them. What that meant, she didn't know, and why Big Brother Matsabo hadn't followed the instructions before getting killed in the crater by the thing made even less sense.

It was hard to find time to figure out the puzzle when the Goron young needed so much care. She'd sit down to try and decide which letter the "spear" clue must mean and immediately be interrupted by one of them making another one cry. Her wanderings through the tunnels searching for something on the wall were always stopped by someone screeching that they couldn't get anything done with the kids in the way.

And, even worse, they were becoming restless. Before Gorons started disappearing they were used to having full run of the mountainside, able to play and go nearly everywhere. It didn't make sense to most of them why they couldn't dare each other to climb higher and higher up the Death Mountain Trail or why they were no longer able to have pretend adventures through the Dodongo's Cavern. All of them were, by now, getting annoyed that they couldn't even leave the village.

This time she was returning to her chamber from an emergency in the kitchen, where the troublemaking twins, Yino and Mino, had tried to steal dinner before it was cooked. One of them, she was sure it was Yino, had led the chefs on a chase through the dining cavern, only to trip and end of rolling over the side of the level and ending up on the ground floor and with a sore back. The other, at the same time, was using the distraction to reach into the pot that was boiling the rocks for the best flavor and ended up burning his own hand. Tired of dealing with them and sending them to their chambers after a lecture about why they deserved their injuries, she stomped down the corridor to her own room to cool off before another disaster occured.

The prophetic and historic paintings of the Goron Mamas on the wall of the tunnel were something all the children loved, but at Ranchi's old age she felt she'd seen them enough times to study them any more. In her current search for clues on the wall, though, she figured it wouldn't hurt to look at them again. She walked past all of her predecesors scanning them for any clues of monsters or magicians, not thinking she'd find anything. Passing herself, she smiled as usual at her green scarf, the only bright color in her scene. Not even really looking at it, she went on to the next one and the next.

Then she went back to hers. It was something she'd never before paid any attention to, thinking it was only a minor eruption, or even just a made-up scene. Everyone had supposed what she was protecting the children from was a flame, perhaps simply a symbol of a youngster or two getting caught in the crater or trapped by one of the many lava rivers hidden deep in their tunnels. Now, though, on really close inspection, she realized that it wasn't a flame at all.

There was a definite shape to it. Looking at it so close that her eyes were nearly touching the wall, she could barely make out what could only be a living creature. It had forearms, with tiny claws and a little tail sticking out of the back. There was even the small shape of a head with horns and a miniscule eye. It had to be one of the young mentioned in the poem. Excited with her discovery, Ranchi took off back to the main cavern to talk to Big Brother.

-

"You think you know what it is already?" Kuranon was shocked, but impressed, after hearing Ranchi's idea. He went to the old parchment case on his table and started digging through it for any type of guide for monsters. "What kind of monster do you think it's talking about?"

Ranchi stared at the puzzle, still trying to put together that which she didn't know. With a sigh, she looked up at the Big Brother with a hopeless frown. "I doubt we're going to find it in any of the guides made by our ancestors. They were strong seers, but a monster like this has never been seen before."

"What?"

The pieces were starting to come together. "Big Brother, what we face is a curse left on us by a magician. Our elders left us many clues that this would happen, but I don't think they themselves knew exactly what it was that would threaten to destroy us. I believe it's a dragon, of sorts, and I want you to remember everything your father told you about it."

Kuranon stared at her, puzzled. "But I already did." He stopped his protest at her troubled look. "What is it, Ranchi? What's bugging you?"

In response, the Goron Mama stepped to the wall and removed the hammer from it ceremoniously. Carefully laying it next to the parchments on the table, she answered in a quiet voice, "This is what's bugging me. Why did Matsabo leave the hammer with you when he knew he'd have to use it to destroy the monster?"

The question was answered with silence. Kuranon tenderly picked up the parchments he had scattered and lay them back in the case, all the while feeling Ranchi's eyes demanding an explanation. Finally, in a voice as quiet as hers, "it's not the real hammer."

"Excuse me?" Ranchi picked up the hammer and examined it, determined to find out how it had fooled her. "You mean to tell me that this is no the legendary hammer that was used to destroy the Dodongo?"

Eyes turned down, Kuranon nodded. "The real one was sealed away by my great, great grandfather for its protection. Father told me it's hidden somewhere inside the temple our ancestors built in the crater. That's why he went up to face the monster, he hoped he could make it to the temple before being killed."

Placing the hammer back down, Mama Ranchi took a step back and tried to keep from trembling. "What do we do now? If we don't have the hammer, there's no way we can stand up to the monster."

Both of them sat silently. Without the legendary hammer, the Gorons had no hope of facing any sort of enemy. Stories told of it being forged by the Giant Gorons, who no longer existed. They were the only ones to possess weapon-making skills, and this grand weapon had taken the combined talent of all them.

After a while, Kuranon made a timid intrusion into the silence. "There's only one thing I can do."

Ranchi jumped at his words. "What?" she demanded, worried, "Don't tell me you're going to do what Matsabu did. You can't commit suicide like that, not when we need you here. Your son is... well..." She trailed off before suggesting that Kotamaton was incapable of leading the Gorons and ended by giving Kuranon a look that said she'd kill him before letting him go into the crater alone.

"I know," He said, trying to calm her. "I am not my father, and I am not going to do anything rash. As soon as Kotamaton is able to find a safe path for us to get food from the cavern, though, I do plan on leaving him in the position of leadership."

"And where will you you be?" Her voice was almost threatening.

Kuranon found it impossible to look into Mama Ranchi's eyes. "As soon as I can be sure that the Gorons will be safe without me, I'm going to explore the secret passages myself. They go everywhere, and I'm certain that one of them will have to lead to an entrance in the temple."

No response came from Ranchi. The hammer was the thing they needed most in this crisis, and this seemed to be the best way to get it. "Are you going to go alone?" she asked quietly.

"There is little choice."

"But what about Sado? You could at least take him along, can't you?" Ranchi wanted to offer her companionship, but knew that her duties to the young ones came first.

"Kota's young. He'll need an advisor since I can't help him."

The truth was inevitable. Ranchi tried to think of anyone that could be spared to help the Big Brother, but too many had been lost to the monster already and those who were left were needed for the city to function. "Just promise me you'll come back to us alive."

Kuranon gave her a weary smile. "I'll do my best."


End file.
